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On the Reliability and Treatment Utility of the Practical Functional Assessment Process.

Adithyan Rajaraman1,2, Gregory P Hanley1, Holly C Gover1

  • 1Department of Psychology, Western New England University, Springfield, MA USA.

Behavior Analysis in Practice
|December 5, 2022
PubMed
Summary

Practical functional assessment (PFA) reliably informs behavioral treatment for severe problem behavior. Treatments derived from PFA show strong utility, even with variable reliability, benefiting practitioners.

Keywords:
Open-ended indirect assessmentPractical functional assessment processReliabilitySevere problem behaviorSkill-based treatmentTreatment utility

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Psychology
  • Applied Behavior Analysis
  • Clinical Psychology

Background:

  • Practical functional assessment (PFA) is used to inform behavioral treatment.
  • Previous research questioned PFA's reliability and correspondence with functional analyses.
  • The goal of functional assessment is to guide effective problem behavior treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To replicate and extend previous findings on PFA reliability and treatment utility.
  • To evaluate the reliability of PFA hypotheses for children with problem behavior.
  • To determine if PFA reliability impacts its treatment utility.

Main Methods:

  • Two independent PFA processes were conducted for four children.
  • Treatment was informed by a randomly assigned PFA.
  • Treatment outcomes and generalization were assessed.

Main Results:

  • PFA reliability varied based on evaluation stringency.
  • Treatments developed from PFA produced effective outcomes for problem behavior.
  • Targeted social skills improved and generalized across contexts.

Conclusions:

  • PFA demonstrates strong treatment utility for severe problem behavior.
  • Effective treatment can be achieved despite variable PFA reliability.
  • Findings support the use of PFA in clinical practice for behavior modification.